On-line game method

ABSTRACT

Strengthening a relation between “products” and a virtual space, and improving values of both game characters and the “products” mimicking the characters by stimulating users&#39; affection to original products. In an online game method, a product carrying an ID code assigned thereto and a number of image characters reflecting features of the product and correlated to the ID code are previously prepared, and a user can use the image characters as characters for the online game by inputting the ID code in the online game to register the image characters therein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an online game provided througha network, and more specifically to a method of providing an online gameusing one or more image characters.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY

[0002] Most of online games provided through and played on a networkvirtually start and virtually end, namely are completely realized withina virtual space. On the other hand, there have been known businesses ofselling toys each mimicking a character appearing in an online game toaim the synergetic effect between the online game and the toy.

[0003] However, the relation between a character appearing in an onlinegame and a toy mimicking the former is only in the state where one onlyresembles to the other, and the roles are independent respectively, andtherefore the relation between the two is not strong, and online gameplayers' affection to characters appearing in online games does notsubstantially contribute to increasing favor to and popularity of toysmimicking the characters. Further there has been no case in which anumber of characters are prepared in correspondence to a toy, or inwhich various attributes varying for each user are given to eachcharacter.

[0004] There has been known a trial for promoting sales of a product bydisclosing the product with an ID for application to a present campaignon the campaign site which can be accessed from, for instance, a mobiletelephone, and the problems as described above have not been solved.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention relates to a method of providing an onlinegame using one or more image characters, and more specifically to amethod of strengthening the relations between a virtual space in whichvarious characters act and all types of “products” including, not onlytoys described above, but also stationery products, home appliances,general merchandises, foods, and other types of products, and furtherpremiums and promotional products for the purpose of improving values ofboth the game characters and products mimicking the characters bystimulating users' affection to original products.

[0006] In a method of providing the online game according to the presentinvention, a product carrying an ID code assigned thereto and a numberof image characters reflecting features of the product and correlated tothe ID code are previously prepared, and a user can use the imagecharacters as characters for the online game by inputting the ID code inthe online game to register the image characters therein.

[0007] Preferably the image characters mimic the corresponding products.Preferably a user is required to make a membership registration in theonline game prior to inputting the ID code. Preferably the product is apremium for a prize awarding machine. Preferably the registered imagecharacters are shown in a form of an album for allowing users tovisually check the image characters. Further preferably a game point isgiven to a registered member simultaneously when the image charactersare registered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008]FIG. 1 is a view showing a general image for a method of thepresent invention in which a stuffed toy and a mobile telephone areused;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a procedure of membershipregistration in a method of the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a procedure of registration of animage character in a method of the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 4 is a view illustrating change of an image characteraccording to attribute data set in the online game;

[0012]FIG. 5 is an image diagram showing utilization of an imagecharacter in the online game; and

[0013]FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a method of calculating points inthe online game.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0014] The method of providing an online game according to the presentinvention is described in relation to an embodiment thereof in which themethod is applied to a stuffed toy as a premium for a prize awardingmachine (a stuffed toy game machine or other arcade games foracquisition of a product) with reference to the related drawings.

[0015]FIG. 1 is a view showing a general image for the present inventionin which a stuffed toy and a mobile telephone are used, and the figureshows a user 10 utilizing the service; a mobile terminal 13 owned by theuser 10; and a stuffed cat toy 12 with a price tug 11 attached thereon.Displayed on a display screen 14 of the mobile terminal 13 is an imagecharacter correlated to the stuffed cat toy 12 as a “product” in thepresent invention in a virtual space, and this image character istransmitted from a service center providing this service.

[0016] The tug 11 shown with the enlarged form in a dialogue balloon hasa mail address 17 of a provider of this service and an ID code 18printed thereon. The ID code 18 may be provided as, for instance, a sealadhered on a product. The ID code 18 is not always required to be acharacter or a sign, and such items as bar code, two-dimensional barcode, and a musical sound signal may be used as the ID code 18.

[0017] The user 10 having acquired the stuffed toy 12 from the prizeawarding machine carried out the work described below for registrationin the service center, when the stuffed toy 12 as a product iscorrelated to an image character in a virtual space, and subsequentlythe image character acts as the user's favorite, a pet or an alter egoof the user in an online game provided from the service center. When theonline game goes on, the user's emotional involvement in the imagecharacter increases, and the user feels as if the stuffed toy 12 acts asthe user itself. As a result, sometimes the user may overlap an image ofthe stuffed toy 12 at the user's hand on the image character displayedon the mobile terminal 13 and may say “Good luck” to the stuffed toy 12.

[0018] Further communication between the users 10, 10 using the imagecharacter is possible.

[0019]FIG. 5 is a view showing an image indicating utilization of theimage characters in the online game, and in this figure, imagecharacters 50, 50′ are displayed on mobile terminals owned by the users10, 10′, and further stuffed toys 51, 52 imagined by the users 10, 10′are shown in a dialogue balloon.

[0020] In an online fighting game, the users 10, 10′ may imagine a scenein which a stuffed toy as an original of one user's image characterfights with the other's in a virtual space when seeing the imagecharacters 50, 50′ displayed on each mobile terminal.

[0021] As described above, a product in the present invention includes,but not limited to, stationery products, home appliances, generalmerchandises, foods, other types of products as well as premiums such asa stuffed toy 12 and toys, and further prizes and promotional products.

[0022] In a method of the online game according to the present inventionas described above, a product carrying the ID code assigned thereto anda number of image characters reflecting features of the product andcorrelated to the ID code are previously prepared, and one of the imagecharacters is registered by inputting the ID code in the online game topossibly use the image character as a character for the online game, anda membership registration is preferably required in the online gameprior to inputting the ID code. The procedure of a membershipregistration is described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 2.

[0023]FIG. 2 shows a service provider 200 and a user 210 with theintention of receiving the service, and there are a mail server 220 andan administration server 230 provided at the center of the serviceprovider 200.

[0024] The user 210 activates a mailer normally equipped with a mobileterminal 13 (a mobile telephone, a personal computer, or othercommunication devices for possibly connecting to a network such as theInternet) (211); inputs the mail address of a provider of this service17 in the address inputted section (212); and sends a mail (213).Whether a text and a title are input in the mailer or not depends on adirection from the service center, and in this case a text and a titleare not inputted.

[0025] When the mail with no text and title is received at the mailserver 220 of the center, the administration server 230 constantlymonitoring the mail server 220 to receive a mail (231) detects thearrival of a mail (232) and fetches the mail into the administrationserver 230. The administration server 230 decodes a mail address of themail sender and creates a data area (record) specific to the memberidentified by the decoded mail address. Then the administration server230 creates an input screen based on the data area (233) and distributesboth a guidance for the service and the URL showing the site for saidinput screen to the decoded mail address. The mail is transmitted to theuser 210 (221) via the mail server 220 (234).

[0026] The user 210 checks the incoming mail (214), connects to the URLdisplayed on the display, and requires a data input screen formembership registration (215). Then the user 210 makes the data inputscreen distributed from the administration server 230 displayed on themobile terminal 13 (216); inputs specified items such as the user's nameand a password (217); and transmits the data to the administrationserver 230 (218).

[0027] The administration server 230 records the data transmitted fromthe user on the member-specific data area so that the user is registeredas a member (236). On this occasion, a member registration point givenfor a registered member may be registered (237). A “member registrationpoint” is a point used when a member utilizes services such as an onlinegame or shopping service.

[0028] The member registration data of the user 210 thus created istransmitted to the user 210 for confirmation (238), and displayed on ascreen of the mobile terminal (219).

[0029] Then, a procedure of registration of an image character withreference to a flow diagram in FIG. 3, that is, a method of correlatinga “product (a stuffed cat toy)” to an image character in a virtual spaceis described. In this figure as well as in FIG. 2, the flow chart showsa user 210 on the left side and a service provider 200 on the rightside.

[0030] The user 210 (hereinafter referred to as a member) registered asa member as described in relation to FIG. 2 makes the member-specificmenu display limited by a password or the like displayed on the mobileterminal 13 (301). Then, the member selects a “tag ID input” menudisplayed on the same display (302) and transmits a request signal forthe tag ID input screen (303). A “tag ID” is an ID code 18 assigned to atag 11 of a stuffed toy 12. The administration server 200 havingreceived the signal creates a tag ID input screen for said member (304)and transmits the screen to the mobile terminal of said member (305).

[0031] When the tag ID input screen is displayed on the member's mobileterminal 13 (306), the member inputs the “tag ID” (an ID code 18) in theinput screen (307) and transmits the data to the administration server200 (308).

[0032] The tag ID data received as described above is registered on themember-specific data area in the administration server 200 (310), andthe data is correlated to the relevant image character searched from thedatabase 311 accumulating image characters having been prepared by thecenter in advance therein (312). Preferably points given when the imagecharacter is registered are added (313). The “character registrationpoint” is a point used, like the member registration points, when amember utilizes services such as an online game or shopping in thisservice, and the points stimulates the users' desire to get a stuffedtoy 12 and to buy products.

[0033] A plurality of image characters can be registered (314) andselected to be used when online games or other service as describedbelow are utilized.

[0034] The registered image character is transmitted to the member'smobile terminal 13 (315) and displayed on the display (316). Accordingto the member's request, the image character can be searched as needed(317) and preferably, for instance, shown in a form of an album (318).

[0035] As described above, the image character is shown as anillustration mimicking the acquired stuffed toy 12, and photographs,pictures or the like can be adapted on behalf of the illustration whenthey have features of the corresponding products. In some cases, songs,melodies or musical sounds may be employed.

[0036] When the registered image character is used as an online gamecharacter as described above, products such as a stuffed toy has beenacquired or bought by the member so that the member's affection to theimage character is developed and the favorable image and the popularityof original products such as a stuffed toy are promoted.

[0037] Moreover, in the method described above, a database of a largenumber of image characters related to the ID code is compiled andmultiple characters can be prepared for one stuffed toy. Specifically,product attribute data information matching to the ID code is possiblyset as the “attribute data” with the attribute parameter for eachcharacter set, and the desire to buy the same product can befacilitated. Furthermore, by setting parameters with data of interestsfor each registered member, it is possible to make a game point morecomplex and an online game more exciting. The method, for instance,comprises the steps of preparing multiple product attribute datainformation matching to ID codes; displaying one randomly extracted fromsaid matching data and information converted by the parameter table as“default setting for attribute data” when inputting the ID code; makingthe member select one from the data information; and converting thesetting for attribute data as the member selected.

[0038] This is described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0039]FIG. 4 is a view showing an image of the possible change of gamepoints acquired in an online game when the attribute data of an imagecharacter used in an online game is employed, and the figure shows thechanges of an image character when the attribute data is set.

[0040] Namely, the attribute data 41 is displayed on the mobile terminal13 owned by a user (member) 10, and image characters 42, 43 imagined bythe member 10 when the setting of attribute data is set are shown in theballoons. It is designed for the member to have a great deal of interestin an online game through the setting of attribute data by the member10.

[0041] The method of calculating points in the online game when theattribute data is added as described above is described below withreference to the flow diagram shown in FIG. 6.

[0042] When the game selected by a member is started (60) and variousgame operations are performed (61), a point section is generatedtherein. In the point section, “whether it is a stage for giving pointsor not” is judged (62), and a point adjustment table prepared for eachgame is referred to when it is judged to be a stage for giving points(63) to judge “whether the stage is an object for points or not” (64).When the stage is not recognized as an object for giving points owing tothe member's mistake even though the stage is one for given points, thepoints are kept unchanged and the game operations continue to beperformed like in the case where it is judged that “the stage is not onefor giving points” (61).

[0043] On the other hand, when it is judged that “the stage is an objectfor giving points”, attribute data items correlated to the pointadjustment table are referred to (65). It is needless to say that thereis an item with no relation to any attribute data item in some pointadjustment tables. When there is data designated by a point adjustmenttable in attribute data item, the points set in the point adjustmenttable plus those corresponding to the attribute data are given to themember (66). It is also needless to say that there are plus points andminus points.

[0044] When there is no attribute data item correlated to any pointadjustment table, points are only those set in the point adjustmenttable without referring to attribute data item (67).

[0045] The change of points according to the attribute data setting isintended not only to be for enjoying an online game, but also fordeepening the affection to the image character when playing online gameswith the image characters, which leads to increase the users' desire tobuy products corresponding to image characters.

[0046] The present invention is not only effective for distributingpasswords for online games by making use of product tags, but also hasthe profound effects for increasing favorable image and popularity ofcorresponding products through affection to online game characters.Further, the present invention has the remarkable effects that a numberof characters corresponding to one product can be prepared on an onlinegame, or that various attributes differentiated for each user can begiven to each character.

1. A method of providing an online game comprising the steps of:preparing a product carrying an ID code assigned thereto and a number ofimage characters reflecting features of the product and correlated tothe ID code in advance; registering one of the image characters inresponse to input of the ID code in the online game; and enabling saidimage character to be used as the online game character.
 2. The methodof providing an online game according to claim 1, wherein the imagecharacter mimics the corresponding product.
 3. The method of providingan online game according to claim 1, wherein membership registration inthe online game is made prior to inputting the ID code.
 4. The method ofproviding an online game according to claim 1, wherein the product is apremium for a prize awarding machine.
 5. The method of providing anonline game according to claim 1, wherein the registered imagecharacters are possibly shown in a form of an album.
 6. The method ofproviding an online game according to claim 1, wherein a game point isgiven to a registered member simultaneously when the image character isregistered.
 7. An online game device for playing the online game methodaccording to claim
 1. 8. The online game device according to claim 7,comprising a mail server, and an administration server always monitoringincoming signals to the mail server and having a data area for eachmember.
 9. A method of providing an online game by an administrationserver, comprising the steps of: fetching an ID code assigned to aproduct from an online game terminal; retrieving an image charactercorresponding to said ID code from a database and correlating theretrieved image character to said ID code; and having the correlatedimage character used as a character for an online game based on said IDcode, wherein said administration server for managing the online gamewith image characters appearing therein has the database with imagecharacters each having features of the product.